Monday, May 2, 2011

MUTH'S TRUTHS 05/02/2011

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BYE-BYE, BINNIE!

First thought on bin Laden’s death: May he burn in hell…and may each of his 72 virgins look and sound exactly like Roseanne!

Secondly, enough with the PC-speak. I don’t think a single red-blooded American was celebrating on Sunday night that Osama bin Laden had been “brought to justice.” They were celebrating that the son of a bitch was dead; that the lives lost on 9-11 had finally been avenged.

Avenged by whom?

Well, despite his chest-thumping credit-taking, not by President Barack Obama. By Navy SEALs. Which reminds me, if you haven’t yet read “Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10” by former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, do yourself a favor and order it today.

Oh, and by the way, the U.S. decision to immediately bury bin Laden at sea will spark a conspiracy movement that’ll dwarf the Kennedy assassination….or even Obama’s birth certificate!

Speaking of Obama, let’s give a little credit where credit is due.

Indeed, the man did campaign on going into Afghanistan to find “the real killer” if elected president. And he did, indeed, approve the use of highly controversial (but effective!) drones on the battlefield. And he did, indeed, give the order to take bin Laden out. However….

Was there a worse, more inappropriate, self-serving speech to the nation than the one B.O. delivered Sunday night?

It started out OK:

“Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of innocent men, women and children.”

He should have just ended it right there, closing with:

“As President Bush told our nation immediately after 9-11, ‘We will not tire, we will not falter, we will not fail...justice will be done.’ And so it was today.

“Let me congratulate our military tonight for a job well done, and reiterate President Bush’s promise to any remaining terrorists who have done, or may do harm to the United States. You can run, maybe even for a long time; but you cannot hide. We will find you eventually. And you will pay.

“Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.”

But that wasn’t good enough for the Chosen One. No, he had to wax poetic over this historic achievement, as well as pat himself on the back often and hard enough to create a high wind warning at the National Weather Service.

In his initial remarks - as if America needed to be reminded of who bin Laden was and what he did - Obama told us that it was a “bright September day” ten years ago that “was darkened” by bin Laden’s attack. The images of that day are “seared” into our memories; of the planes flying into the Twin Towers “through a cloudless September sky.”

And in remembering the victims, Obama reminded us of “the empty seat at the dinner table” and parents who would “never know the feeling of their child’s embrace” thanks to an attack that left “a gaping hole in our hearts.” He then reminded the nation of that wonderful post-9-11 time when “the American people came together” and “offered our neighbor’s a hand” and “offered the wounded our blood.”

Good grief. A JFK/Reagan-wannabe speechifier if ever there was one; shooting for the Guinness Book of Lofty Rhetoric Records.

But then the ravages of Obama’s “I-disease” took hold for all the world to see.

·“…last August…I was briefed…”

·“…I met repeatedly…”

·“…I determined that we had enough…”

·“Today, at my direction…”

·“I’ve made clear…”

·“Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear…”

·“Tonight, I called President Zardari…”

·“…and my team…”

·“These efforts weigh in on me…”

Yes, it’s all about Obama. It’s always about Obama. But why not? Obama is what it’s all about, right?

How sad. This historic event did not demand an historic, inspiring speech by the President. The event stood on its own. Short, sweet, “just the facts, ma’am” and be done with it. But Obama just couldn’t help himself.

Again, give the man credit where credit is due. But finally offing bin Laden doesn’t change the fact that Barack Obama’s only real skill set is….talking. And as we’ve unfortunately seen over the last 2 years, that is woefully insufficient.

That said, ding-dong, Osama’s dead! God bless the SEALs. If there’s any regret here, it’s that they are so damned efficient that bin Laden probably didn’t suffer much before he died. Oh, well. Nobody’s perfect.

FOLLOW CHUCK ON TWITTER

If you’re not following me on Twitter, you’re missing out on a lot of great “stuff” that doesn’t otherwise make it here in Muth’s Truths.

You gotta love the single-minded selfishness of the Nevada State Education Association - the teachers union - which around 11 pm last night, and in the middle of all the hoopla over the world’s #1 killer taking a shot through the head at the hands of a Navy SEAL team, posted this self-serving message on Twitter:

No, children. Today is the day to thank an American military service member, active or retired.

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WHAT LOCAL CANDIDATES CAN LEARN FROM DONALD TRUMP

Perhaps the most difficult thing for any candidate for any office is answering the simple, most basic question most often asked by the media, potential donors and voters: “Why are you running?”

Most - who cannot articulate their motivation at all, let alone in a 30-second or less sound bite – defer to the old, “I want to give something back to the (insert community, city, county, state or country here) which has been so good to me.”

Blecchh.

Compare that to Donald Trump, who last week, when asked by Laura Myers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal why he would run for president, replied, “The reason I would do it is because I love my country.”

OK, that’s the standard-issue response, but he went on…

“And the country is not going to be the country for very long if these same people who are grossly incompetent continue to run it.”

Yes! The Donald “gets it.”

Elections aren’t can’t-we-all-just-get-along Kumbaya moments. They’re about contrasts. And if you can’t or aren’t willing to tell voters that your opponent sucks, then why run against him or her in the first place?

In addition, when you, as a candidate, explain why you are running, it should be because you want to “do” something, not “be” something. Trump also nailed that aspect with this statement in the Myers’ interview:

“(The public is) tired of being ripped off. And every nation in the world is ripping off the United States. And if we stop that, we can have a great country again. We can have a thriving country with jobs again.”

Yes!

I’m running to stop people from ripping us off. Who would be against that? I’m running to make the country great again. Who could be against that? I’m running to help the country thrive again and create jobs. Who could be against that?

If only more candidates would learn how to articulate their reasons for running in this manner.

A Nevada political consultant with direct connections to the Tea Party Express last year, who requested anonymity, weighed in on the TPX-Sharron Angle angle in an email to me over the weekend.

“TPX supported Angle because she was the candidate they stood to benefit the best financially from. They didn’t see Sue (Lowden) or Danny (Tarkanian) as candidates they could promote, build up and demand donations for - as easily as they could Angle.”

Great. So it was all about the money. Why am I not surprised?

This consultant also agrees that it’s time for conservatives in Nevada to move on:

“When you get a chance at the Super Bowl and you get your ass kicked as Sharron and TPX did, you shouldn’t get another shot. They had their shot, they blew it.”

Amen.

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FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“Bin Laden was shot in the face by the SEALs during a firefight after resisting capture.” – Politico, 5/2/11

“I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” - Mark Twain

“The world is a better place without Osama bin Laden.” – Newt Gingrich

“There is likely to be a lot of 'Obama got Osama' crowing from Democrats but the intelligence that led to the raid originated in 2007, during the Bush administration. . . . I was struck by the way Obama used his address to highlight again and again his personal role.” - British journalist Toby Harnden blogging at the telegraph.co.uk (H/T, Political Diary)